IPG drafts in Gatfield to assist ailing Lowe

Interpublic is injecting extra high-level managerial muscle into the ailing Lowe network by installing one of its top executives, Steve Gatfield, to work alongside Tony Wright, the worldwide chief executive.

Gatfield's installation as what one insider described as "de facto
chairman" is designed to lend support to Wright. Wright, a former chief
strategy and planning officer at Ogilvy & Mather New York, had run
neither an agency nor a network before joining Lowe in 2004.

"It's an informal arrangement but I am stepping into the fray," Gatfield
said.

Gatfield, IPG's executive vice-president of global communications and a
one-time chief operating officer of Leo Burnett, is a close associate of
IPG's boss, Michael Roth. He is not expected to do the Lowe job
long-term, but would remain while the network reconfigures itself to
become more competitive. Gatfield explained: "We have made no decision
about whether it will be formalised."

Last year, the Lowe network lost international Unilever accounts, as
well as the London agency's flagship Tesco business.

Gatfield's move puts a question-mark over the future of Ed Powers, the
chief operating officer, appointed 17 months ago to provide Wright with
operational support.

David Bell, then IPG's chief executive, brought in Powers, an ex-chief
operating officer of the PR group Weber Shandwick, soon after Wright was
hired.

A Lowe insider said: "To get the organisation back on the front foot you
need client-facing managers. Powers is not a client handler but, to be
fair to him, that was not why he was appointed."